Bird Guide

Bar-shouldered Dove vs Zebra Dove

Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis)

Bar-shouldered Dove

Geopelia humeralis

Medium128 gWoodland

The dove has a blue-grey breast with chequered brown-bronze wings. The nape is similar to that of the peaceful dove in that the nape feathers are striated but differs in that the bar-shouldered dove does not have striated throat feathers like the peaceful dove. Furthermore, the nape feathers are copper in colour. These doves are also often confused with the introduced and common spotted turtle dove. The eye ring tends to be grey but red-brown when breeding. The juveniles are duller in colour.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Duncan McCaskill · CC BY 3.0
Zebra Dove (Geopelia striata)

Zebra Dove

Geopelia striata

Small57 gWoodland

The birds are small and slender with a long, narrow tail. The upperparts are brownish-grey with black-and-white barring. The underparts are pinkish with black bars on the sides of the neck, breast and belly. The face is blue-grey with bare blue skin around the eyes. There are white tips to the tail feathers. Juveniles are duller and paler than the adults. They can also have brown feathers. Zebra doves are 20–23 centimetres in length with a wingspan of 24–26 cm. Their call is a series of soft, staccato cooing notes.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Derek Paulo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: ImagePerson · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Bar-shouldered Dove and Zebra Dove.